


Flowers Speak Louder Than Words

by The_Ghost_King



Series: Haikyuu!! Rarepairweek 2021 [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confessions, Crushes, Flowers, Formalwear, Getting Together, HQ Rarepair Week, Holding Hands, Language of Flowers, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Requited Unrequited Love, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, V.League, hanakotoba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:20:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28554513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Ghost_King/pseuds/The_Ghost_King
Summary: What better way to confess to your five-year crush than by showing up to his apartment, announced, in a tuxedo with a bouquet of flowers?orHow the language of flowers gets Tsukishima Kei a boyfriend.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Haikyuu!! Rarepairweek 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090403
Comments: 8
Kudos: 135





	Flowers Speak Louder Than Words

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 4 of HQ Rare pair week with the prompts: Formal, Time Skip, Flowers
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Kei fidgets with his bowtie. Tightening it and smoothing it out, staring at himself in the mirror to check his appearance.

He supposes he cleans up well, even though the formality of his tuxedo doesn’t sit right with him. He’s much more accustomed to the smart casual style that he normally wears, which is less stiff, more comfortable, and allows him to expand his sweater collection.

What’s necessary is necessary though and if he wants to make a good impression at this V.League event a simple black tux is the easiest way to go. He’s not trying to innovate, he merely wants to blend in. Someone else will inadvertently steal the show anyway.

If he’s trying to impress the show-stealer to be with his perfectly tailored tuxedo that’s nobody’s business but his own.

He checks his appearance once more before grabbing his coat, a long black woollen thing, and putting it on. Careful not to wrinkle his tux, which took way longer to get into than he’d anticipated.

Once his coat is on he slips into his shoes, a simple pair of black loafers, and walks over to his dining table where part of the cause of his nervous flitting lies.

It’s a bouquet of camellias—red, pale yellow and white—with cherry blossoms to fill in the gaps. He knows exactly what all of the flowers mean, he’d asked for quite a specific bouquet after all, and he hopes that the person who’ll be receiving these flowers will understand his intentions without him having to spell it out.

Kei’d rather save himself the humiliation.

He grabs the bouquet and holds it near his chest, turning back towards his door.

It’s time to go.

* * *

Hinata had been the one to suggest their current arrangement. 

They’d gotten the invitations for the event at the same time and before Kei even finished reading it, Hinata’d already suggested they go together.

“My apartment’s on your route to the venue anyway, right?” he’d said and, although that was true, Kei wanted to refuse. Not because he can’t stand Hinata, they’ve been friends for too long for that excuse to work, but because he doesn’t trust himself around him.

It’s strange to consider that they’ve known each other for seven years now, it’s even stranger to consider that Kei’s been in love with Hinata for 5 of those years, two of which Hinata was on another continent and they barely even spoke to each other.

It’s pathetic, and it upsets him that these feelings appear inescapable. Making themselves known whenever he’s alone with Hinata and therefore the sole recipient of his attention. 

It’d been a morning in late May during their second year that his emotions became overwhelming enough that Kei caught on to them. It’d been early, somehow he and Hinata had been the first to the gym and as he watched Hinata open door to the club room, flush on his cheeks from his bike ride, Kei’d thought to himself that there wasn’t a sight more beautiful. He slipped up that one time, with a single thought, and he’s never been able to take it back.

It’s truly infuriating, frustrating to no end, to be in love with someone who’s first and only love is volleyball. It’s even more frustrating when that person is Hinata Shouyou, who is so effortlessly charismatic, so clumsily sweet, so  _ endearing _ that people fall for him left and right.

Kei figured he never stood a chance so he kept to himself, suffered in silence, and pretended he didn’t care about Hinata as more than his annoying friend.

Yamaguchi had seen right through him pretty early on but no one else had and he wanted to keep it that way. 

Until today that is.

The reason he’s gone out and bought the flowers, the reason that he’s leaving for Hinata’s house thirty minutes before they said to meet up, the reason his hands can’t stop shaking is because he’s decided to confess.

He’s decided that all the pining, and suppressing of his feelings has been enough. He’ll just confess to Hinata, get himself rejected, drink a little at the V.League event and then use the rest of the week to nurse his shattered heart after which he can leave these feelings behind.

It’s that easy, and he’s been a coward for too long anyway. If he waited any longer he’d never be able to look his reflection in the eyes again.

So he continues on his brisk walk, more nervous the closer he gets to his goal.

* * *

Hinata lives a mere 15-minute walk away, which is why Kei’s picking him up tonight.

They’ll take a taxi from Hinata’s place to the city centre, where Sendai’s gymnasium has been transformed into a gala venue. The entire V.League has been invited to this event, closing off the season, to mingle and talk and congratulate the teams who’re at the top of the rankings. 

Kei’s never been much of a fan of these smooching events but they’re an occupational hazard.

Since Hinata’s been back they’ve become more interesting anyway. The guy always manages to captivate the entirety of the room the moment he walks in. Attention lingers on him and doesn’t leave for the rest of the night.

It makes things easier for Kei because for once he’s sure he won’t be the only one with eyes on Hinata Shouyou, and he won’t feel so bad for his blatant feelings.

It also makes things harder, though. Kei’s possessive by nature and although he has no right to be jealous or anything equally presumptuous the simmering anger in his stomach never fails to show up at these events. 

When he spies person after person deep in conversation with Hinata there’s always a part of him that wants to interrupt. That wants to disrupt their talk and complete drape himself over Hinata to make the other person leave, but he can’t do that, he has no right to do that and he should stop thinking about it too.

Hinata drags out all of his ugliest emotions somehow.

Makes him vulnerable, and easily irritable, makes him lose his composure that he’s worked many years to perfect. One word from Hinata Shouyou and he’s rendered useless, see-through and ineffective.

It’s disconcerting and he wants it gone. He wants all of it gone, all these feelings he’s been holding back for  _ years _ that are so foreign to him in their specificity, so foreign to him in their intensity that he can’t recognize himself when they crop up.

He’s exhausted, exhausted of this never-ending first love that his heart can’t seem to let go off.

He squeezes the bouquet closer to his chest, careful not to damage the fragile blooms, and picks up his pace.

Hinata’s apartment building is in sight, it’ll be over soon.

* * *

“I’m downstairs,” Kei says, the moment Hinata picks up the phone. 

He’s purposefully early to give them some time to get their drama over with, but he hopes Hinata’s already ready to go and he won’t have to come up.

It’ll feel more intimate if he’s on the threshold to Hinata’s home. He won’t be able to remove himself and disassociate as he gets his heart broken.

Luck isn’t on his side tonight.

“You’re early,” Hinata exclaims but he doesn’t sound annoyed, “I’m not ready yet, just come up, I’ll buzz you in.”

So he comes up, bouquet held firmly in his hands, heartbeat speeding up with every step he takes.

As he ascends the stairs, slowly getting closer to Hinata’s floor and his apartment, he starts second-guessing himself. Seriously considering just throwing the flowers out and pretending nothing happened, that he didn’t have anything planned at all.

It’s fine like that, he’ll live, probably.

The feelings might just blow over on their own, finally, after seven years of wishing for that exact thing to no avail.

He’s thinking about throwing the flowers away all the way to Hinata’s front door. As he knocks and waits and even as the door swings open he’s still considering just hurling the flowers behind him over the railing, letting the carefully crafted bouquet in all its meaning fall apart on the pavement.

It’s too late now though, Hinata’s there, frozen in his doorway. Staring at Kei and the bouquet in his hands with his mouth open.

Kei can’t look him in the eyes so he scans his outfit instead.

Hinata decided to go the same route as him with the tuxedo and, if he wasn’t so mortified, Kei’d feel personally attacked by how good Hinata looks. 

The pants hug his strong legs, accentuating their muscles. The white dress shirt is tailored to perfection, leaving nothing of Hinata’s physique to the imagination. IT’s almost obscene.

Hinata hasn’t put the jacket on yet and must’ve been in the process of tying his bowtie when Kei knocked because there’s a strand of black fabric dangling around his neck.

They stare at each other, both frozen.

This is when his own actions truly hit Kei.

He’s got a bouquet of camellias and cherry blossoms in hand. He’s picking up his former high school teammate and five-year crush for an event they’re both going to and he’s about to confess.

He’s about to  _ confess _ . Has already confessed if Hinata takes a proper look at the flowers.

Who authorized him to make this decision!?

He breathes in, breaking the fragile silence between them and thrusts the flowers at Hinata.

“For you,” he says suddenly as eloquent as a five-year-old. His face is hot and his hands are shaking, but he’s reassured by the flush spreading on Hinata’s face as he carefully takes the bouquet from him.

“I—What—For me?” Hinata stutters and Kei nods, not trusting his voice.

Hinata stares at him and then at the flowers, taking a long look at him again before returning his gaze to the bouquet.

“Camelias and cherry blossoms,” he murmurs in disbelief, “Tsukishima do you k—”

“You told us, back in second year, that your mum really likes  _ hanakotoba _ ,” Kei interrupts and with that he watches Hinata’s eyes go round as saucers. That little line a confession of intent, there’s no going back now.

“You, you li—” Hinata starts but Kei beats him to it.

“I like you,” he says, voice firmer than he expected, “I’ve actually liked you for a long time, and well...no better time for a long-overdue confession than the present, right?” he tries to joke.

Kei is staring at the flowers, the camellias with their soft, fragile petals. Brittle in their beauty, just as brittle as his heart now that he waits for Hinata’s inevitable rejection.

He can’t look at him, refuses to look at him and see something akin to disgust or ridicule. His heart won’t be able to take it, not when he’s already this vulnerable, this bare in front of someone who he never planned on exposing himself to.

He’s shocked out of his negative spiral by the rustle of plastic and the warm press of a palm around his wrist.

Slowly, carefully, apprehension giving him goosebumps, he locks eyes with Hinata.

There’s no disgust or ridicule in those amber eyes, just something fond. Kei doesn’t want to get his hopes up but—

“I like you too,” Hinata says, just as firmly as Kei had before. He even repeats it, looking Kei straight in the eye, as if he’s daring him to disagree.

Kei wouldn’t be able to disagree even if he wanted to, his thoughts too focused on the four words, the four unimaginable words, Hinata just uttered.

“You,” he splutters and Hinata nods, sliding his hand down Kei’s wrist to tangle their fingers together.

Hinata squeezes his hand. Kei squeezes back without hesitation.

“I,” Hinata jokes and a smile breaks out on Kei’s lips without his permission.

They stand there, holding hand for no longer than a minute but if anybody asked Kei he’d tell them it was an eternity.

An eternity of physical contact with the object of his affections, an eternity looking in the other’s eyes and smiling wider than he has in years, an eternity of butterflies bursting loose in his stomach.

Hinata is the one to break their moment, softly tugging Kei into his apartment as he mumbles something about getting ready.

Kei waits for him at the door, dazed.

* * *

They arrive at the V.League venue together, right on time.

If they’re holding hands throughout the entire evening that’s nobody’s business but their own.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it consider leaving a comment and if you want you can come and check me and my writing endeavours out on Twitter: [@The_Gh0st_King](https://twitter.com/The_Gh0st_King)


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